[Dr. Smith]

THURSDAY, Aug. 2 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that 1.4 million Americans have celiac disease but don't realize it, while 1.6 million people are on gluten-free diets -- a treatment for celiac disease -- even though they might not need it.
[Emphasis mine]

Read the full article...

(From Yahoo Diseases)

This doesn't surprise me. What surprised me was the statement in the article that:

"There are a lot of people on a gluten-free diet, and it's not clear what the medical need for that is," Murray said. "It is important if someone thinks they have celiac disease that they be tested first before they go on the diet."
[Emphasis mine]

I'm not sure what the reason, or risk, is or may be, and unfortunately the article doesn't elucidate.

Doc

[glenntaj]

--is that if someone goes off gluten-containing foods before getting the serological tests for celiac/gluten sensitivity, the antibodies levels may go down and the results of the test may be skewed, resulting in false negatives.

However, I do like to point out that if one has documented positive titres, or if one has had the tests done while still consuming gluten and they were negative, one does not need anyone's permission to eliminate gluten from one's diet and see, over time, what happens.

There are a lot of doctors out there that think gluten-free diets are a fad, and that many people on them don't have any pressing medical need to be. While that may have some truth, eliminating gluten from one's diet, whether one has evidence of sensitivity or not, is not dangerous, and that's the impression a lot of these doctors give. One can certainly choose to modify one's diet in many ways, and there are certainly enough healthy foods out there to eat to balance one's diet without consuming gluten containing foods.

(A lot of us think that going Paleo--lean meats, vegetables and legumes, some fruits in season, not much in terms of grain--is better overall for us anyway, from a lot of perspectives: autoimmunity, blood sugar control, weight control.)

[Sallysblooms]

I didn't bother testing. I knew that just being sensitive wouldn't show up. So, it was easy to just stop eating it.

For many with symptoms testing is good. I think many eat SO much gluten though. It is everywhere. Adds up.